fuel costs

treerat · 31 August 2015, 19:32

I know that pier side fuel usually has a premium attached but I do think the £1:75 they wanted to charge in Torquay today a bit silly considering the local garage is at £1:11.

I'd be happy to pay over the odds but 64p a litre is just robbery, I'd have cried at £1:40/1:50 but still paid it.

Jerry cans in the morning me thinks. Is this the most expensive quay side fuel at present???

Portholme · 31 August 2015, 19:43

I haven't bought fuel there for a while but Devon marine fuels in Salcombe made my eyes water last time I filled my bro in laws boat up down there. It was nearly two quid a litre two years ago, so I reckon 50p over the forecourt price.

paulbrown22 · 31 August 2015, 19:51

For diesel, I reckon the fuel barge in Salcombe is pretty good price-wise for the West Country - certainly a darn sight cheaper than Falmouth! Not sure about petrol though.

Afraid I only know diesel prices, but yesterday we paid 95p/litre to fill up the sailing yacht in Yarmouth. CPL at Poole is currently ~£1/litre.

Poly · 31 August 2015, 20:08

What's the bulk price of fuel, for infrequent delivery to a single site not a chain? (Probably more than supermarket forecourt price!). When did they buy it (rates have fallen since)? How much does the hardware cost to maintain, get inspected etc? What are the insurance cost for selling fuel? Probably higher for pollution risk as sea? How much is rent (and fees to harbour authorities / crown estates etc)? Do you sell much "other stuff" to your trapped consumer the way petrol stations do? Do you pay your staff minimum wage the way petrol stations do? How much does the c/card transaction cost to process? Do you expect to make a profit of the sale? Then bear in mind that 1/5th of the extra cost is extra VAT.

We have a choice - we pay these costs and have the convenience of dockside fuel where and when we want it, or - we refuse to pay a premium and have to put up with lugging fuel tanks from petrol stations who don't really want you filling jerry cans anyway.

treerat · 31 August 2015, 20:15

As I said I'd expect to pay a premium but 64p a litre premium on fuel costing £1:11 is nuts.

The Black Pig · 31 August 2015, 20:24

I queried the price on salcombe fuel barge
The additional insurances inflate the cost apparently
But that said and done they're is always a premium for convenience

Lee argyle · 31 August 2015, 20:24

Yarmouth harbour was £1.28 Saturday, think local forecourts around £1.15, not too much difference

willk · 31 August 2015, 20:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by treerat

...but 64p a litre premium on fuel costing £1:11 is nuts.

They musta known that you had a few quid squirrelled away!

These fuel complaints amuse me - punters telling marinas how much they need to charge to make a buck/break even. There must be an opportunity to open a CHEAP fuel outlet in one of those busy marinas in the Sarf. Maybe you should look into it - obviously there must be potential to corner the market.... or could there be drawbacks?

treerat · 31 August 2015, 20:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lee argyle

Yarmouth harbour was £1.28 Saturday, think local forecourts around £1.15, not too much difference

Now that's a sensible and acceptable mark up.

The Black Pig · 31 August 2015, 20:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by treerat

Now that's a sensible and acceptable mark up.

If that is the mark up why pay more?

Maybe they think it's a captive "marine" market

1eyedjim · 31 August 2015, 20:36

I was gonna fill my boat up there a few years back but 300 litres at that price put me off so just used cans lol

I agree there will be a lot of additional cost as it is a phone for service so not permanently manned but to me what you said if it was not such a jump then I would use it all the time just for the convenience as would a lot of people in my marina so would imagine he would then sell more than currently.

But it's up to him and as said before. We don't know what his outlay is just to sell it

ShinyShoe · 31 August 2015, 20:43

Yip but run the economics of a petrol station. Maybe 8 pumps. Car pulls in fills up, pays and leaves in 5 minutes, There will be typically 4 cars on the forecourt throughout the day. So you are turning through perhaps 50 cars an hour, in normal day time. Each buying an average of 50litres. So 2500 litres of fuel. Wow - if that assumption is right thats £2750 and hour. Lets assume thats only for 12 hours a day... £33k a day, Nearly a £1m of takings a month. WOW I've never done that maths before. I'm sure I've read before that they often make only 2p per litre of profit. I've never been clear if thats before or after running costs, but at 2500litres thats £50 an hour, which may still need to cover staff costs etc.

So lets assume they are buying their fuel at £1.09 /litre and lets (unrealistically) assume the quay side is paying the same. Lets assume there are no delivery charges so it doesn't matter how small a delivery you get.

How much will you sell at the quayside in an hour? I'd guess 1 boat an hour at 100litres. So £175 of sale at the price you quote. So £66 "profit" an hour. Not much different to the £50 petrol station is taking per hour, but as poly says potentially more challenges to the complexities of the sale - insurance etc. Perhaps I'm making up my numbers - there will be times with lots of people wanting fuel and times with no-one all day.

If its diesel there is a possibility of some very large sales for commercial vessels. I suspect petrol bulk sales are less extreme...

A Road fuel tanker carries 37,000 litres of fuel. On my hypothetical petrol station that lasts just over 24 hours. For my hypothetical quay... they are probably open less hours a day (say 10), so sell 1000 litres a day max, so 1 delivery a month?

willk · 31 August 2015, 21:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

If its diesel there is a possibility of some very large sales for commercial vessels.

They tend to buy direct from the tanker - so not so much!

ribber · 31 August 2015, 21:36

Seems some parts of Devon are pretty pricey - in almost everything. Had to stay two nights at a B&B this weekend at £250 a night in Salcombe. £4.80 for a gin and tonic. Service charge not included. More shiny 4x4's parked up than a farmer's agricultural fair's car park. Fantastic scenery - but not what I was expecting. So as to the mark up on your petrol, it would appear to be the norm round there.

Poly · 31 August 2015, 21:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

How much will you sell at the quayside in an hour? I'd guess 1 boat an hour at 100litres.

Aye in summer between 9am and 5pm. But he's also available on a wet wednesday in winter when nobody uses it at all, but all his overheads are there.

bedajim · 01 September 2015, 07:06

A long time ago when at College I used to work in a petrol station on a busy A road my boss had 6 other stations and he always used to say the petrol etc was a pain in the arse but it got the punters in to the shop.

The real money was in the sweets, snacks cd's & top shelf magazines
Just look at the size of the shops on petrol forecourts.

Trimix · 01 September 2015, 08:13

I use jerry cans to fill up before I set off, but when out and about I just use whatever is available at the marina and pay for the convenience.

So for me I balance convenience with cost depending where I am.

But lets not forget, we are not commuting to work in our boats, we are out having fun a few times a year. So for that I don't mind paying extra.

I can imagine its a H&S / Environmental nightmare to sell fuel in a marine environment. Plus they will be paying others to rent the spot, store the fuel on dry land perhaps etc. etc. So without the support / back up and economies of scale of a large chain I'm not too surprised at the price.

As we know, most garages make their money on the food and sweets, not the fuel so much.

Perhaps the marine chaps should start to sell us sweets

1eyedjim · 01 September 2015, 08:47

I asked the marina at Brixham if they ever plan to sell petrol as well as diesel and the answer was no due to the h&s involved to have it. If it is that bad for a large MDL marina chain not to invest in it then for one may to do it I can't imagine the return would buy him a second home

Pikey Dave · 01 September 2015, 09:35

At the end of the day, it's a free market & we have freedom of choice. If the guy pitches his fuel at his chosen price & it sells, well good luck to him. If it doesn't sell then he's stuck with a load of fuel which currently is decreasing in value. If people didn't buy it, he wouldn't be selling it.

Jeff · 01 September 2015, 10:21

Largs Marina this weekend ;;;;; £1.29 petrol/ £1.27 diesel - bargain